We want YOU to tell YOUR story of experiences you have drawn from that helped to enlighten you, inspire you, give you hope and moved you. We are looking for lessons learned from experiences in YOUR life, or in the life of someone you know. It could involve something important you learned at home, while growing up, in business, from mentors and friends, or something you observed taking place that was out of the ordinary.

Our guidelines are as follows:

Selection must be from something YOU have direct knowledge of, either from your own experience, someone you know, or a third party as long as you have written permission to submit the story. All submissions must be factual. No fiction or gossip, and nothing found in an email or social network.

You do NOT have to be an author to make a submission. We want everyday people to contribute. There are no age restrictions. Entries are welcome from all countries.

Length of the submission can range from 50 – 1,200 words (approximately two printed pages) – no more.

Stories must be written in the first person.

Make sure there is a sentiment to the story – How did it make you feel? How did it impact your life? Etc.

All submissions must be made through our Submission Page. We do not accept entries through email, links, Skype, postal carrier or any other means.

We retain non-exclusive rights to publish the material for our Lessons From ebook(s)/book(s) (of various titles) as well as for social media. You are open to use the article elsewhere at your own discretion. You must agree, however, to the Terms and Conditions/Disclaimer on the Submission Page.

We will NOT pay for submissions. Author’s name and contact info will be credited.

A short bio (maximum of 200 characters) may be included with the submission (we reserve the right to edit for length if necessary) in the book. For other use of the submission – social media, e-mail marketing, blog articles, the author’s name only will be used.

There is no limit as to the number of submissions. You are welcome to submit as many stories as you wish.

Upon submission you will receive an acknowledgement that your article has been received. We do NOT promise all submissions will be published, nor give an exact date for publication.

Publication will depend on how quickly submissions are received.

If your contact information has changed after your submission has been made, please e-mail us at info@lessonsfromselling.com to make the necessary changes. Make sure to include your name, previous contact information and your new e-mail and contact information.

Story example:

Sales is More Than Natural Ability

by Ron White

When I was 14, my best friend Brian had a newspaper route and he sold the papers door-to-door. We had a routine back then, after school we would ride our bikes to the local convenience store and literally spend hours eating candy and playing video games.

It seemed like Brian had an endless supply of cash, so he was the big shot. He would hand me money and I would go cash it. I didn’t have a job of my own, and as any self-respecting boy, I didn’t like my friend paying my way.

The difference was he had a way to make money and I did not. Sure, I would occasionally mow a lawn or do odd jobs, but it wasn’t a steady income. It seemed Brian was living the lifestyle (in my young opinion) of the Rockefellers and the Trumps – because of his paper route.

Then one day it happened. It was just a normal day, but who would have thought something that takes place when you are 14 would affect the rest of your life. This was one of those days.

Brian told me about an opening at the newspaper, and asked me if I would be interested in applying for it. I just about jumped out of my skin! I said, “Are you kidding me?” It was my chance to have an endless supply of cash flowing out of my pocket. It was my chance to be a genuine businessman. It was my chance to be an adult.

So, Brian got me the paper route and I began my first real job. Being a paperboy meant you threw newspapers door-to-door, but it also meant that on the weekends you participated in something called “crew working.” Crew working meant that the manager would get you, and 5-6 other adolescents, and take you to a neighborhood and drop you off so you could sell newspaper subscriptions door-to-door.

It was my first introduction to the world of sales, and I’ll admit I wasn’t a superstar right off the bat, but after a while it almost seemed natural to me. I began enrolling 15 new people to take the newspapers and the average paperboy was enrolling 6-10 a month. I was really hitting on something. I was winning television sets and season passes to amusement parks for my family and me.

As a 14-year-old boy, the dollar signs of this didn’t really go off in my head. I was enjoying the prizes, but more than that I was really enjoying being good at something.

I made “Newspaper Carrier of the Year” that year, and my mom even took me out of school early one day because the newspaper wanted to do a feature story on me. It was then that I fell in love with sales.

I didn’t get any formal sales training until four years later, when I took a job as a telemarketer at a seminar company, yet I seemed to carry the same knack for this job. I worked three days a week, because I was in college, and performed as well as adults who worked five days a week.

But I also realized my weaknesses back then. In the words of my manager, I had a ton of natural sales ability, but I didn’t have the diligence, organizational skills or work ethic. You know what, he was right. So, my success there was somewhat short-lived.

I began speaking the next year, and I really struggled at the start as a speaker with my sales. I would speak at companies at their weekly sales meeting, and I was so ineffective at selling tickets to our seminar that our manager wanted to fire me, but I was spared because I had an ally in another manager.

I began reading book after book on sales. I listened to every audio program I could get my hands on. I became a machine who seemed to live on sales training programs, and I was rewarded heavily with very good sales.

I trained myself on how to become a good sales professional by spending my time and immersing myself in sales. When a door-to-door salesman came to my door I would invite him in just to hear his pitch. I wanted to understand why people bought, and what it took to be a top sales professional.

They say that sales is the highest paying profession. I wanted to find out the sales formula so I could be one of those sales professionals.

Ron White is an author, speaker, memory expert, and two-time U.S.A. Memory Champion. He is available to speak worldwide, and his CDs and memory products can be found online at BrainAthlete.com.

Strategy Example:

3 Simple Tips to Increasing Your Sales by 30%

Find something you have in common with the customer, making your follow-up contact memorable. It could be hobbies, like interests (music, movies, sports, etc.) or philosophies. Just something that will let them know you can relate to them on their level.

Make a friend of the customer – nobody minds being contacted by a friend. This doesn’t mean you have to invite them to your son’s wedding. It might be something as simple as being more “neighborly” than “salesy”, sharing a joke and a laugh, or getting their advice on something you have in common.

Speak to your customers’ goals, dreams or passions. If your customer loves cooking, send them a subscription to cooking magazine along with a quick reminder of how your product or service could give them more time or money to be doing what they dream of.

Quote example:

Success is full of challenges and speed bumps in part because it doesn’t like tourists. – Kyle Wilson